“I just want to keep winning. I want to develop as a player, I want to help my teammates develop, and I want to speak better Spanish. That’s the real goal. Half the team’s going to be speaking Spanish. I know a little bit and I can get by but I enjoy speaking Spanish with everyone. I mean, after a couple weeks, no one cares where you get drafted. We’re all in this together.” – Toglia, Michael. Colorado Rockies top pick Michael Toglia returns to Pacific Northwest for pro debut with Boise Hawks. Nichols, Dave. Spokesman-Review Staff Writer. 22 June 2019.

Michael Anthony Toglia (born August 16, 1998 in Phoenix, AZ) is a professional baseball first baseman and outfielder for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was raised in Gig Harbor, Washington.

Switch-hitting 1B Toglia signed with the Colorado Rockies after being a 1st round selection, with the 23rd overall pick, in the 2019 amateur draft, out of UCLA. The Rockies had been watching him for a while, since they had first drafted him in 2016, in the 39th round, when he graduated from high school, but he declined to sign with them in order to attend college.

He showed plenty of power in college, hitting 8 homers as a freshman in 2017, when he was named to the Freshman All-America team by Collegiate Baseball, and then increasing that total to 11 and 17 over the next two years. He was the first UCLA player to be selected in the first round since Chase Utley in 2000.

Toglia began his professional career in 2019 with the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League where he hit .248/.369/.483 in 41 games, with 7 doubles and 9 homers, earning an All-Star berth. After spending 2020 at the Rockies’ alternate training site while the minors were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to action in 2021 with the Spokane Indians of the High-A West. He batted .234, but with 17 homers and 66 RBIs in 74 games, earning an invitation to play in the 2021 Futures Game at Coors Field. He impressed his putative future hometown fans by hitting a two-run homer off Cole Ragans in the 3rd inning in the National League’s 8-3 win.

He then finished the season with 41 games for the Hartford Yard Goats of the Double-A Northeast, where he hit .217 with another 5 homers. Overall, in 115 games, his slash line was .228/.333/.445, with 20 doubles and 22 homers in addition to 84 RBIs. He struck out 142 times, but also drew 65 walks, an indication of good plate discipline, and overall a promising line for someone in his first year of full-season professional ball. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League and was selected for its All-Star Game.

The Rockies selected Toglia’s contract and promoted him to the major leagues on August 30, 2022. He made his MLB debut that night as the teams starting first baseman versus the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, going hitless over four at-bats in a 3-2 Rockies win. He collected his first MLB hit, a single off of Kyle Wright of the Atlanta Braves, the next night, and he hit his first MLB home run, a two-run home run off of Braves closer Kenley Jansen, the same night.

As of this writing, Michael is engaged to the sister of MLB pitcher Nick Nastrini. He is on Twitter: @MichaelToglia)

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)